A Kiss Like This
by EmeraldEyes1994
Summary: Claire and Shane's first kiss from Shane's POV. Warning: may be annoyed by Shane's reasoning of certain things. He definitely annoyed me while writing it. Rated T to be safe. Please R
1. Chapter 1

YAY! I finally finished. Like it says, this is Claire and Shane's first kiss from Shane's POV, but still in third person (because I'm not very good at first person). Sorry if Shane bothers you. He bothered me too. Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer:** All of the characters and spoken dialogue of this first chapter belong to Rachel Caine.

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**A Kiss Like This**

Shane was laying in bed, thinking, feeling guilty and…uneasy? He wasn't sure if that was the right word. Never before had a _girl_ made him feel this guilty and upset or whatever the hell he was feeling. It felt like some part of him were slowly being torn away from him, and the tearing would last the next two days and maybe a bit longer than that at the rate it was going.

_Great, _he thought. _I'm being tortured by something I can't even explain._

But somehow he knew that it was Claire leaving that had him feeling like this. _What the hell!?_ he thought. _This isn't like me, my emotions consist of throwing fits and punches. _But tonight, he was realizing his emotions were larger than he had anticipated. It felt like there was something the size of a Webster's Dictionary weighing down his chest and making it hard to breathe. But when he looked down to check, there was nothing there. _Fantastic. An emotional thing. _He needed something to take this weight away. He needed…

Without even realizing that he was doing it, Shane was on his feet, opening his bedroom door, and walking down the hall.

Suddenly, he found himself in front of Claire's door. _Wait, how did I get here? _he confusedly asked himself. He vaguely remembered leaving his room and walking down the hall. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

_So, I'll knock on the door and then what? _he asked himself. But unfortunately, it was his subconscious that had led him here, and subconscious's aren't well know for talking.

Then he remembered what he had been thinking about 20 seconds ago. He had a weight on his chest, and he needed something to get rid of it. _Okay, I've got that part figured out, _he thought. But that didn't change how confused he was. Obviously, Claire had something to do with it, and that's where he was stuck.

_Why am I here? _his feeling of frustration and his conscious thought set off a feeling of de ja vu. Once he explored deeper into it, he remembered having thought the exact same thing while trying to persuade Alyssa to be careful when she went out because of his feud with Monica.

His argument with her that day had been unsuccessful, and at the time, he knew it would be. Claire reminded him so much of Alyssa, but yet she was so different.

They both got the same look in their eye when they were determined, and their looks of defiance were too close to contrast. He smiled, continuing with more comparisons in his head. They were so alike that he wanted Claire to be safe.

_That's it, _he thought. He would go in there and tell Claire that she couldn't leave the house for the next two days. There shouldn't be a problem because if Claire was leaving Morganville, she wouldn't need to go to school. Plus, he would be able to spend more time with Claire before she left. Shane didn't want to ask himself why that had popped into his head.

But Claire probably wouldn't listen, just like Alyssa. He had to at least try. And also he needed to come up with a good reason for her to not leave over the next two days. He didn't have to think long before he came up with a valid enough reason. It was lame, but he had to try.

Shane lifted his hand to knock on the door. _Wait, _he thought, his knuckles an inch from the wood. _She's probably asleep. _He cocked his head to the side so he could try and hear any movement behind the door. He thought he heard a rustling of sheets and the squeaking of bed springs. A restless night maybe?

Suddenly Shane wasn't so sure he wanted to do this. If she was in fact awake, that would mean he had to talk to her since he knocked on her door. But if he waited until morning…no. That wouldn't work for Shane. She would probably still leave. He had to do this now. And if Claire didn't answer the door, then he could try in the morning.

As softly as he could, Shane knocked on Claire's door, half wishing she wouldn't answer. But he only waited about five seconds before she did.

_Oh my God. _When Shane saw her, he had an overwhelming feeling of wanting to go in there and hold her and keep her safe from all the vampires and evil demons and monsters in the world. But somehow he was able to not give in, and he just stood there looking at her, battling with himself about whether to rush in there right now or not.

Once he recovered from the strange feeling, he was able to notice that she was wearing an oversized t-shirt that went to her mid-thigh. She looked…hot.

Again, the feeling of wanting to rush in there came over him, and he immediately scolded himself for thinking that. Claire was off-limits.

"Hi," she said, bringing him back to now.

Shane realized he hadn't said anything yet. "Hi," he replied. "Did I wake you up?"

"No. I couldn't sleep." Vaguely, Shane noticed the covers on her bed were all twisted. "Um, do you want to um…come in?"

That was Claire, always trying to do the proper thing. "Better not," he answered. He didn't want to do anything he didn't want to, and not going in her room made it easier. "Claire, I-" Shane shook his head, not sure how to start. "I shouldn't even be here." Because he shouldn't. He knew Claire wouldn't listen to him , and now he wasn't even sure why he was trying. But he noticed that he also wasn't leaving, so he might as well go ahead and get it over with.

"Well," she said. "I'm sitting down. If you want to stand there, fine." She turned around and walked to her bed, and sat on it, legs together, not letting anything show. She glanced at her fingernails and picked at them, avoiding his eyes.

Shane took two steps into the room feeling safer now that she was sitting. _It's now or never,_ he thought. "For the next two days, I don't want you leaving the house." Even though Claire's head was bowed, Shane could see her eyebrows shoot up. She was obviously surprised by what he said. "Your dad already thinks we're getting you drunk and staging orgies in the hallway." _Lame excuse, out of the way, _he thought. _But hopefully that'll help her see reason. _"Last thing I want is to send you home with fang marks in your neck. Or in a coffin." He was surprised to find that that was true. He lowered his voice and said, "I couldn't stand that. I really couldn't. You know that, right?"

Suddenly Shane needed her to stay, to see reason. Unconsciously, he stepped toward her so he was right in front of her, and she stopped picking at her nails. "Claire. You've got to promise me."

"I can't," she said, not looking up, "I'm not some little kid. And I'm not your sister."

Shane laughed at the irony, seeing as he had just thought the same thing. "Oh, yeah. That, I know. But I don't want to see you get hurt again."

This wasn't working. So in a moment of desperation, he leaned down and cupped her face, tilting it upward. The world stopped as he hesitated for one second, and then he pressed his lips to hers. There was half a second of surprise, and then she responded.

Claire tasted good. Somewhere between vanilla and chocolate, or maybe both. And something like…light. He instantly wanted to taste more of her. But he reminded himself that he had already made the stupid, desperate act of kissing her once. He didn't want to do anything he might regret by continuing.

Reluctantly, Shane pulled away. Instead of standing all the way up, he leaned his forehead against hers and sighed, expecting her to agree to not leave the house. Instead, she surprised him by kissing him.

He felt instinct take over, and he pulled her up so they were both standing, their hands clasped. It wasn't too long before he realized that they shouldn't be doing this. Claire was underage, and seeing as there was a bed a foot away, Shane realized they needed to stop.

Shane pulled all the way back, his heart racing, and feeling warm all over. Claire looked like she was too. She was deeply flushed, and her lips were slightly swollen.

"Okay," Shane said, "That-that shouldn't have happened." Especially the part where he lost control, he added in his head, scolding himself. But he didn't regret it.

"Probably not," she agreed. "But I'm leaving in two days. It'd be stupid if I never even kissed you." Neither did she, apparently.

Then their lips were together again, and Shane couldn't figure out who kissed whom. But it didn't matter. It was…amazing. If the world had crumbled around them at that moment, Shane wouldn't have noticed.

His hands were free this time, and he let them roam, cupping her face, and stroking her hair and neck, and down to her shoulder….

And then she gasped into his open mouth and he moaned, giving up the last small amount of restraint that was in him, and letting the part of him that _wanted _to do this take control. He felt electricity all over, and it was like his body was humming with energy.

His hands stopped at her waist, and that was when their tongues touched. It was gentle and tentative, and it was a whole new reaction for Shane. He had never had a kiss like this before. It was like the light that Claire tasted like was flowing into him, making him see new things.

He put his right arm around her waist and cupped the back of her head with his left, thinking how beautiful Claire was. He wondered why he had never tried kissing her before; it was better than he'd ever had in his life, and Claire was so unbelievably sexy….

As soon as that final thought came to mind, the more rational part of his brain reminded him that HE WAS KISSING CLAIRE!!! So he slowly let go of her, letting her fall back to sit on the bed. For half an instant, he wanted to join her, but his rational side was in charge, and instead he took two giant steps backward.

He turned and walked the rest of the way into the hall. He stood there for a while, taking deep breaths, thinking, all the while feeling Claire's eyes watching him.

"Okay," he said, slowly turning around, but not trusting himself to take a step in any direction, knowing which direction he would most likely be going in. "Okay, that _really _shouldn't have happened. And we're not going to talk about this, right? Ever?" He had to make sure that she wouldn't go blabbing to Eve about it, wondering what it could mean. Which was nothing. Shane saw this as a mistake, and he wanted to get rid of it.

"Right," she said, sounding breathless. "Never happened."

That wasn't good enough for Shane. He needed her to know that they couldn't let this happen again, that she was too young.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, not sure what to say or how he should say it. Claire was sitting there, looking every inch of perfection, and he closed his eyes to attempt to stop that thought in its tracks. "Claire-" he started.

"I know," she said before he could get the words out.

"Lock the door," he told her, feeling he couldn't trust himself if it was only closed.

She got up and closed it most of the way, then one glance at Shane, and she closed it completely. Shane heard the dead bolt flip on the other side and he immediately slumped against it, his back to the door.

Then he realized that he wasn't alone in the hallway; Michael was standing in front of his bedroom door, looking surprised at Shane.

"I am _so_ dead," Shane muttered, looking at Michael's confusedly surprised face.

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muahahahaa I will add another chapter as soon as I can. It will probably take a while though. School starts this week, as does dance team for fall season. So please be patient, it will eventually come. Oh yeah, and sorry for using so many pronouns. I must have an unkown love for them. Writing this was harder than I thought because it's hard to get in Shane's head. I hoped you liked it though. Feel free to review! More ideas are a-brewin' so keep on the lookout for possible stories in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter's here! I hope you like it :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. They are property of Rachel Caine.**

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It was a couple of seconds before either of them said anything. "Hey," Michael said. "What were you doing in there?" he asked, jerking his head at Claire's door.

"I-had to talk to her," he said, looking down and straightening up. Shane walked down the hall and into his bedroom, Michael following him. Michael crossed his arms and stood in the middle of the room, near the end of Shane's bed.

"Oh, yeah I bet," Michael said, looking smugly at Shane's face.

"What?" Shane asked as he sat down on the bed.

"Dude, I don't know if you know this, but you're really flushed, and your voice is shaky." Michael was trying to keep from smiling now. He examined Shane's face for another second then said, "You kissed her, didn't you?"

He didn't say it like he was mad or would be mad. It sounded like he had been expecting something like that to happen. Michael wasn't even trying to conceal his smile now.

"Yeah," Shane admitted, "I kissed her."

"About time, man," he said.

This confused Shane. A lot. "Wha-" he started but was interrupted by Eve.

"Michael, where are you?" her voice carried from down the hall, near Michael's room.

"In here," he called.

A second later, Eve opened the door, poking her head through. "Hey what are you guys doing in here?" Then she saw Shane's red face, and she gave a shout of laughter. "Dude, who embarrassed you? I haven't seen you that flushed since twelfth grade," she said, opening the door farther and taking a step inside the room.

"Shane just kissed Claire," Michael answered, which earned a glare from Shane.

Eve looked surprised for a second then looked at Shane, smiling. "It's about time," she said, echoing Michael's earlier comment. "Was it really that good?" Eve was still studying Shane's face, as was Michael.

"Okay what are you guys talking about? What do you mean 'It's about time'?" Shane asked, shaking his head, and in a state of complete confusion.

They exchanged a glance, and then Michael said, "Well we've kind of seen something in your eyes when you looked at her ever since that night Miranda was here and you stormed away."

"No," Eve disagreed, shaking her head. "I saw it a bit earlier than that, but it was more obvious after that night."

"When did you start seeing it?" Michael asked her.

"Hmm I think it was the night Claire came back from the hospital and Shane made the deal with Brandon. It was there, only every so often and not very noticeable." Since Eve was a girl, it was obvious that she would notice something like that. But Michael? Shane looked at him, disbelief and confusion written all over his face.

"Michael sees more than you give him credit for," she answered, not needing him to voice the question. "Sometimes," she added.

Then it was Michael's turn to be confused. He looked at her, but Eve was staring resolutely at the window, trying to hide a smile that could give herself away.

Shane rolled his eyes. "So," Eve started a second later, looking at Shane. "Was it good?" Now she was smiling.

Shane didn't want to answer that question. He felt like it was something that only him and Claire should know about. He gave Eve an annoyed look, and opened his mouth to tell her off, but Michael said, "Eve, what's the point of asking him? You can see it in his eyes and his face is flushed to the color of a beet."

"Hey, can you guys leave and go talk somewhere else?" Shane asked but neither seemed to hear him.

"Yeah but I wanna hear him say it," she said with a mischievous smile. "Now Shane," she said, looking at him like she was about to speak to a child. "Answer my question and then we'll leave you alone for tonight. Was your kiss with Claire good? Yes or no will suffice."

Shane gave her a very annoyed look, but Eve kept her expectant face steady. He looked at Michael, but he also looked just as expectant. "Yes," he answered, knowing that Eve would be leaving soon.

"Ha!" she said, looking at Michael, "You owe me five bucks!"

"What?!" Shane said, annoyed. "You bet on whether or not it would be good?"

Again, Eve and Michael ignored him. Michael smiled mischievously at Eve and said, "Actually, seeing as he kissed her tonight, _you _owe _me _five bucks."

"Damn," she said, looking crestfallen.

Shane shook his head and just said, "Okay, I don't care, just leave." He got up off his bed and pushed Eve out into the hall. Eve only looked a little annoyed before starting to walk down the hall.

"Coming Michael?" she called, almost to her room.

"I'll be there in a minute," he answered. He was still standing in Shane's room, looking slightly amused. He turned to Shane, who was still standing by the door, straightened his face, then said, "Look I know that you probably think that you won't let it happen again, but you have to promise me that even if it does, you won't let it go too far. We can't have a lawsuit on our hands because you know her dad will freak out if you try anything."

Michael was being totally serious, so Shane didn't even want to make a joke. He nodded and said, "I know, man. I promise. I won't try anything."

Michael nodded, and then walked out of the room. "Okay," he said, "I believe you. And I trust you." Then he turned to walk down the hall, and Shane closed his door.

_Finally, I'm alone, _he thought, relishing in the peace and quiet. But as he turned around to start walking to his bed, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be. He wondered what would have happened if he had stayed with Claire. And then he snapped back to reality. He can't live in a fantasy, he had to focus on the here and now.

He walked back to his bed and laid down on it. He lay there for a minute, not daring to let himself think about Claire and the few minutes they had shared together so recently. But after a minute of trying not to, finally he let his thoughts go to where he didn't want them to.

Their kiss had been…different. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Now that he was able to sit there and feel things that he had to hide in front of Michael, he felt like he was full of light, and it was leaking out of his fingertips and all of his nerve endings. He was humming with the energy of it.

He got up, turned off his light, and crawled back into bed where he fell asleep full of light.

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That's it :) This one was more fun to write than the first one because Eve is so weird. I'm pretty sure this is it for this fic, but if you have ideas for adding more, I might add it. Please please please vote on the poll on my profile, I'll keep it up until I feel like I have enough votes (P.S. The poll I am speaking of can only be answered by people who have read Carpe Corpus.) Oh yeah and please read my other fanfic if you have read CC, also.


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